What is Snow Rugby?

The SNOW RUGBY is the winter and extreme version of beach rugby. It’s played on a field of the same size and with the same rules. The most important rule is the one about the 2 seconds, which makes the game extremely fast and spectacular. What is liked more about this rugby mode, reduced and faster than the version with 15 players, is the higher number of tries that can be scored during an only 10 minutes long game.

It’s in Friuli Venezia Giulia, where also the beach rugby was born, where a group of rugby fans had the idea to exchange the sand with the snow! Right…we are talking about snow and the SNOW 5S RUGBY! The famous winter town of Tarvisio, located between the Friuli Venezia Giulia’s mountains, on the border to Austria and Slovenia, hosts every year, already since 2013, the first official Snow 5s Rugby of Italy.

The head-manager of this event, Alberto Stentardo, himself a rugby player of 15-players-rugby, tells us that he got the idea while he was enjoying watching the Super Beach 5s in Lignano Sabbiadoro. Obviously it’s not hard to discover why the “Yeti” thought of a location that was colder and more proper for his temperament. And when we talk about Tarvisio, in January, we actually mean “colder”! When in fact the brave rugby players will dive on the snow… they will go from Lignano’s +35°C/95°F to maybe -15°/5°F of Tarvisio’s natural amphitheater on the bottom of the official female world cup’s ski slope. 50°/100° degrees difference to test the players!

So the game field will be on the bottom of the “Di Prampero” ski slope, in the same scenario where Lindsey Vonn and other famous skiers have been recognized as champions, and where European and not extra-European teams experiment rugby suited for their geography…mountainous. An alpine and international context for a new type of rugby.

Beyond the Alps, in Finland, SNOW RUGBY has already experienced the formulation of 7 players per team. But it is Alberto that confirms us that this event at Tarvisio will in fact be the first five-player snow rugby tournament in the world and will use the same set of rules applied at the beachfive’s.

But besides this Alberto promises a whole third time, the ability to combine SKI + RUGBY and so an unforgettable succession of APRES-RUGBY & APRES-SKI. What do you want more! So if you want to be part of this unique and new weekend of RUGBY + SKI … you should find the way to Tarvisio.

For the less fortunate who will not be present at this unforgettable weekend in the Alps, do not worry! Alberto did not refuse the support of NPR – Non Professional Rugby guys to ensure the live streaming of the event even in the mountains. So live on www.snowrugby.com homepage also LIVE STREAMING of the tournament.